C OUT WY: Life Elevated, Part 2

 
Our final outing in Moab was to a swimming hole that required a short hike along a creek

Although they tried to dissuade us

The kids couldn't resist trying cliff jumping (see videos)

Katy headed back home a few days before us. On our last day in Moab we ran at dawn along the Colorado River

Dinosaur National Monument straddles the Colorado-Utah border and is famous for its concentration of 150 million year-old dino bones. Stegosaurus is found here, and the other common ones are shown at scale alongside human park rangers for proportion.

The Quarry Visitor Center encloses a partially excavated hillside called the Wall of Bones

There, 1500 bones can be seen

and they even let you touch them! 

Heading north on the Utah-Wyoming border we stopped to view the Flaming Gorge, where the Green River cuts its way through the Uinta Mountains. Named by one-armed explorer John Wesley Powell during his 1869 expedition into the Grand Canyon, it is magnificent. Even though it is a National Recreation Area, it is under control of the US Bureau of Reclamation, and therefore not an official NPS site (yet). 

When you're on the road and looking for things to do, don't pass up a county fair. In Rock Springs WY we found Sweetwater County Wyoming's Big Show. Did our resortwear look a little out of place among the buckled and booted local fairgoers? Yes. Did it matter a lick? No it didn't.

The fair had the usual livestock exhibits. On those goat by-products, I've used the blocking reagent in lab work, but I have never worn kid gloves

The petting zoo was insane! Baby sheep, goats, cows, ponies, donkeys, and pigs were whirling around followed by a guy on continuous pooper-scooper duty

There was an acrobat troupe from Tanzania. This guy reminded me of an episode from back in college...

And then there was the carny food. Charlie claimed to never have eaten corn dog. Problem solved!

This "Texas Twister" is a take on fruit punch and the drinkable boot helped us feel like cowpokes

Fossil Butte National Monument in Wyoming will probably be our last fossil-focused Park site. There are many of these out West and they cover a lot of ground: Agate Fossil Beds (NE), Badlands (SD), Dinosaur (CO-UT), Florissant Fossil Beds (CO), Hagerman Fossil Beds (ID), John Day Fossil Beds (OR), Petrified Forest (AZ), Theodore Roosevelt (ND), Tule Springs Fossil Beds (NV), Waco Mammoth (TX).

Remember that the Cretaceous-Paleogene Extinction Event, aka the death of the dinosaurs, occurred 66 million years ago. The Fossil Butte fossils are 52 MYO, from an epoch called the Eocene. By then the great inland sea that created all that wonderful sandstone of Utah had closed, leaving a series of lakes.

A giant lake with freshwater at the top and saltwater at the bottom? I'm no stranger to muck and ooze from the pond at my parents' house, but that is nothing compared to what "microbial mat" at the bottom of Fossil Lake must have been.

but wow, the fossils were incredibly intact - um I mean articulated

and it's not just aquatic life, there were birds

and then on the wall of the bathrooms, there was a huge exhibit on coprolites. This is the only Park exhibit that I have ever seen in the bathrooms!

There are quite a few park sites that commemorate a single day in history when something bad happened: 9/11, the Johnstown Flood, Lincoln's assassination. Golden Spike NHP in Promontory Utah celebrates a momentous day when something positive happened: on May 10, 1869 the transcontinental railroad was completed.

The Union Pacific came in from the west and the Central Pacific came in from the east

That's a replica of the final laurelwood tie and then there were 4 special spikes: 2 gold ones from California, a silver one from Nevada, and a gold-silver one from Arizona 

The VC had a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure exhibit. From it I learned the importance of having an accurate watch during the early railroad age. Until then, the hours of the day were set based upon when the sun reached its highest point in the sky, which defined noontime. Of course as one moves east-west the apparent solar noon drifts following the sun, and even though cities and towns would maintain local time, it was understood that noon in New York was a few minutes later than noon in Boston. All of these local time settings required railroads to maintain complex timetables for travelers. Eventually the railroads had enough and on November 18,1883 the 4 continental US time zones took effect.  

The original transcontinental route shown in black skirted the Great Salt Lake. In 1904 the railroad companies finished a shortcut that crossed the lake on causeways. This was great for rail travel but not so much for the ecology of the lake, whose northern ends couldn't circulate as well, and have now almost entirely disappeared.

We spent a night in Salt Lake City and as first-timers we visited the LDS Temple downtown and then decided to hit the #2 attraction, the Great Salt Lake. I have swum in the Laurentian Great Freshwater Lakes, and now I was ready for a Great Salt Lake. Curiously, most guidebooks don't tell you how to swim in the lake, but we did find one description. 

We drove out to Antelope Island State Park, where the lakeshore was unforgettable, shall we say. Due to the lake's recession, we walked about a half a mile from the beach facilities to reach the shoreline. It smelled funky due to the billions of brine flies that form a mat at the water's edge (check out the videos). The water was absolutely dead calm and extremely shallow. 

 On Antelope Island the water mains were being worked on and as a result the cleansing showers were nonfunctional. I was not going to subject myself to salt encrusting without a rinse and so my salty swim dream remains unfulfilled.

If current trends continue, the Great Salt Lake may dry up completely

Antelope Island has a bison herd and Lyla and Charlie were able to see their first wild one

Our last night together we partied like Mormons by having a nightcap at a Dirty Soda shop. You can create your own concoction or choose among their selections

Despite researching the popular combos, Caroline's creamy orange Dr. Pepper wasn't a hit

Our final stop was Timpanogos Cave, located in the mountains just east of Salt Lake. This completes the tour of NPS cave sites: Carlsbad (NM), Jewel (SD), Mammoth (KY), Oregon (OR), Russell (AL), and Wind (SD). The entrance to Timpanogos is at 6730 feet

but the trail starts 1092 feet below and requires strong calves to ascend the 1.5 mile trail

That didn't deter the large numbers of families that we saw on the trail, many with ginger-headed little kids. We encountered fewer gawky kids, thoughtless women, and hardboiled men.

From our ranger guide we learned that the temperatures of caves are set by the average annual temperature of their entrances. Timpanogos is up in the mountains and that sets its thermostat to a chilly 45 degrees.

This cave is famous for these straw-like formations called helictites

With this trip completed, our National Parks era draws to a close on the eve of Caroline heading to college. Depending on how you count, I've visited 400-413 of the current 433 official sites. We've earned Junior Ranger badges at 383 of the 386 that offer them and if the remaining ones allow mail-in submissions (I'm talking to you Little Bighorn, Guam, and American Samoa) then we should complete that collection this year. Which sites are my favorites? They all are. Seriously, why make unnecessary comparative judgments? All the parks are great. Go plan a daytrip to visit one near you that you haven't been to before. Watch the movie, do the Junior Ranger booklet, chat up the Ranger, tour the area. As time passes the nacre around that experience will harden and to me, these pearls of memory are my most treasured possessions.

C OUT WY: Life Elevated, Part 1

Colorado's 12 National Park sites are scattered around the state and until now we had visited 9 of them. But this summer we signed up Erin for a 2-week hiking camp departing out of Denver that coincided with the end of Caroline's Envirothon week in Calgary and Tessie's week with Heather at camp in North Carolina. This spurred me to construct an itinerary for a week's tour to see the parks from Denver to Salt Lake. Katy's family decided to come out to join us in Denver and we figured out a plan to fill one car for the trip.

I like my road trips to be loops or one-way excursions, and so in order to avoid a dreaded backtrack, I flew out with Erin a day early to Montrose CO, near Black Canyon of the Gunnison NP. The next day we drove to Denver, picked up Caroline, met Katy's family, had a memorable meal, and then split up with me, Katy, Caroline, Lyla, and Charlie heading west while Brad and Erin departed from the Denver airport.

 

Heading up to my travel day, I had been monitoring the South Rim Fire, a wildfire that had been burning in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park for a couple of weeks. When we arrived, the park was closed... 

...however some areas around the park were still accessible to public roads, at least on paper, and one road paralleled the edge of the park.  

Upon arrival in Montrose, Google maps directed me on the road to the park, which started out reasonably drivable, but deteriorated into a rutted single-track 

We made it to the park's boundary and I got out, walked over to the fence line and "visited" the park. Not how I would have liked to have done it, but maybe someday I will return to see the deep dark, poison ivy-ridden, canyon carved by the Gunnison River.

After my visit, a friendly ranger came by to see what we were doing and led us out on the better road that had been closed. Note the red fire retardant sprayed on the hillside.

Just east of the Black Canyon is Curecanti NRA, formed by a series of dams on the Gunnison River

While this sign tells a story about Colorado River water providing critical uses, this article in the NYT tells another story about the water primarily going to feeding dairy cows and beef steers. Burgers and milkshakes are not exactly essential food supplies.

Curecanti contains the Blue Mesa Reservoir visible above the "C" in Colorado. This map foreshadows the future of our trip following the Colorado River from its source near Denver, through Grand Junction (where the Gunnison joins in) to Moab (near the junction of the Green River) and then our route goes up north through the Flaming Gorge to Rock Springs, Wyoming

Anyone recognize the pink cupola of this famous restaurant found in a Denver strip mall next to Adventure Dental and a Dollar Tree?

This is Casa Bonita, a Mexican restaurant built in the 1970s that was once an institution in Denver, but fell on hard times only to be rescued by the creators of the South Park TV show, who allegedly spent $40 million on a massive renovation. We watched the entertaining documentary about the reno with Katy, who as a member of the fan club, was able to score us a reservation for 7.

It was a great experience. You are allotted an hour to eat and then unlimited time afterwards to explore the attractions

They gave Cartman his own table in honor of his South Park episode where he kidnaps his way into a birthday party at Casa Bonita

The food was very, very good, including the all-you-can-eat sopapillas

This is a view into a reconstructed control room from 1973

and there is so, so much more. Check out the videos of the cliff divers, the shooting gallery, and the TV-watching cat

From Denver we drove on one of the most harrowing sections of interstate highway in the country, I-70 over the mountain passes, to Glenwood Springs. Its hot springs pool is enormous...

... and apparently the largest in world

Next stop was Colorado National Monument, a terrible name for a park that preserves a large mesa above Grand Junction. This map lists the 8 National Parks of the Colorado Plateau

There wasn't much shade on the mesa, but our hike into the Alcove provided some escape from the heat

We hit the jackpot on our choice of accommodations in Moab, Utah. It doesn't look like much on its website, but the Moab Springs Ranch was amazing. Originally the property was a ranch and it has its own spring, with trees and a meadow that are in great contrast to the dusty desert properties in the rest of Moab. 

The townhomes were thoughtfully constructed according to the above design principles. My favorite: "Don't use crap!", which I would say most Airbnb's do not adhere to.

Our favorite spot was the picnic table at an overlook

for a great Western sunset

Arches is one of those famous parks that is seeing more and more visitors every year. They implemented a timed-ticket entry system, but it is suspended for the summer, because who would visit in 100-degree heat? 

First lets learn about fins and arches

We hiked 3 days in the park, but each time we were out early, when the trails were shaded

On the Devil's Garden trail we found an unusual pictograph

 

This is Landscape Arch, captured in the correct landscape orientation. It's the longest span in the park and fifth longest in the world

Double Arch

This formation could be called the Devil's Fist

and this must be the Devil's Anus

Our 2nd hike was through the Fiery Furnace. This maze of slot canyons requires a permit to enter, and they deliberately use very small arrows for direction

Part of the fun is getting lost and then doubling back to find those pesky arrows

I finally figured out that the GPS on my Garmin watch was amazingly accurate and could keep us within 10ft of the proper trail

A better naturalist than me could identify the makers these tracks

Our final hike in Arches was out to the iconic Delicate Arch, which sits all alone and requires a 3-mile hike to see up close 

I own the book and jigsaw puzzle of the the Subpar Parks series, one-liner zingers posted by one-star reviewers for every National Park. The Delicate Arch "Looks nothing like the license plate!" and I would agree. I think it looks better. 

We encountered a film crew and learned that they were following 3 members of the Japanese boy band, Travis Japan, who had just played a show in LA

And then later in the day at the Moab food trucks, we ran into them again! 

This time Lyla had the nerve to ask them for a photo

Our own attempt at fame fizzled. A major motion picture in the Marvel franchise, tentatively called Zeus, was filming in Moab and we found the casting call for extras. Lyla and Caroline signed up for the "Townspeople" role but never received the call-back. If only I had my beard going, I could have landed the smart-looking Tech or gritty Snipper (sic)

Canyonlands National Park is 45 minutes from Moab and covers a vast area where the Green River connects with the Colorado. There are very few trails through the rugged landscape

We didn't linger in the stifling heat

Capitol Reef National Park is centered on a geologic divider of Utah called the Waterpocket Fold

After the natives were run off, Mormon pioneers established a settlement called Fruita, where they tended orchards. The Park Service allows visitors to pick fruit in season, but this year a frost in the spring wiped out the peach and apricot blossoms. Farming on the Colorado Plateau is never easy.

Caroline and Katy earned the Junior Ranger badge

Back on the road, this service station gift shop was carved into the sandstone 

and even though I was driving due north at one point, I did not encounter any grid corrections. These lateral jogs in otherwise straight north-south roads are a requirement of our 2-dimensional mapping structure on top of a 3-dimensional world

I have come to appreciate the numerical logic of the American highway system. First there were the white-shielded US highways. North-south routes received odd numbers starting with US 1 running from Maine to Florida and then increasing in number from east to west ending with US 101 along the Pacific Coast. East-west routes received even numbers starting with US 2 running from Maine to Washington (after hopping over the Great Lakes) and then increasing north to south with US 98 running along the Florida panhandle. Don't get me started on the triple-digit US highways such as US 202 or US 301, which roam all over the map following no logic at all. The nearest US highway to my house is US 3, only 2.5 miles away, and where it ends in Boston's Kenmore Square it meets the eastern end of the longest US highway, US 20.

 When the Interstate Highways were established, the even east-west and odd north-south nomenclature was retained, except the numbering started in the south and west, ensuring that the north and east received the highest numbers. Major country-crossing east-west routes end in 0 and north-south routes end in 5, and this time triple-digits provide information: an odd leading-digit means that the highway runs one-way into a city and even leading numbers indicate ring roads that bypass cities. 10 miles from my house lies the intersection of I-90 and I-95 - two heavyweights, and on my travels I watch the numbers go by. I noticed that after I-70 in Utah, the next cross-country Interstate to the south is I-40. There is no I-50 or I-60. This is because as you see in the photo, US 50 is a major thoroughfare through the midsection of the country and introducing an Interstate of the same number would be confusing.

US 60 in my mind is synonymous with Richmond Road in Williamsburg VA, and during college I would periodically ride my bike on it to pick up groceries at the Food Loin. US 60 was supposed to be a transcontinental route from VA to LA, but ran afoul of power brokers in Chicago who wanted US 60 to run from Chicago to LA. As a compromise US 60 was allowed to run from VA to Missouri and the Chicago-LA route was renamed US 66. Familiar to baby boomers as the conduit for iconic American road trips and to millennials for the bygone service stations of Pixar's Cars franchise, US 66 officially doesn't exist anymore. It was retired in 1979, partially due to the establishment of Interstates with similar numbers. But you can still get your kicks on any of the thousands of miles of US highways out there. Yes the traffic lights will be maddening, and yes your GPS will suggest faster ways, but I see US highways as threads through the fabric of our country. By weaving in and out of cities and towns and observing the roadsides, you see a little bit of everything, which is a refreshing diversion from our trending media consumption of too much of a few viewpoints.